Generator Rex - "Grounded" Recap

“Rex is grounded while the Providence crew are off-site, so Noah persuades him to have a party. But things soon take a turn when an EVO intruder is discovered inside the base.”

From the very beginning Generator Rex has been a show that followed the life of an atypical teenager, but the show often plays with the very familiar themes of teen life (first love, identity crisis, gaining friends, etc). This week’s episode was no different as the show gave its own unique take on the popular House Party trope. Rex and company take part in a recovery mission at the remains of Dr. Rylander’s lab, a location last seen being destroyed during the Season 1 episode Dark Passage. Rex, being incredibly bored with his original tasks, decides to take things into his own hands when the Providence team tries to take down a feral EVO found at the mission site. After successfully capturing the EVO while simultaneously “messing” things up, Rex becomes grounded in a sense as White Knight, the head of Providence, gives him the duty of cleaning the Providence warehouse while the rest of the team are off on field missions.

Rex, again bored with cleanup duty, decides to follow the advice of his friend Noah and throw a party, but the only attendees turn out to be four obnoxious teenagers who don’t think too highly of Rex or his abilities. The situation goes from bad to worse when the previously captured EVO proves that it’s not as incapacitated as was thought, and begins to wreak havoc on Providence’s HQ and staff. Rex now faces the responsibility of stopping the dangerous EVO, which proves to be almost as difficult of a task as keeping his hard to please guests entertained. White Knight, who’s typically far removed from the action, also manages to take part this time around.

With most of the show’s regular cast out of the picture, the majority of this episode’s running time features Rex interacting with the four irritating teenage party guests, the self-proclaimed Men of Action. The group’s name is of course a reference to Man Of Action, the production team that created this series, and the character designs are also very likely based on the looks of Man Of Action’s individual members. The Men Of Action, previously seen during the series premiere, aren’t characters that I’d imagine anyone was yearning to see make a return to the show. There isn’t much to like about their abrasive personalities, and a lot of the humor that seemed to be written around them really didn’t work for me. Impressing people that we don’t necessarily like is something that everyone has dealt with, but it felt extra tiresome to watch Rex trying desperately to win the approval of this awful foursome. It wouldn’t be surprising if there were viewers that wanted to rid themselves of these characters as much as White Knight hinted at thoughout the episode. It’s safe to say that I hope the group’s next hiatus from the show will be a lengthier one.

On the other hand, the mysterious and unnamed EVO that we are introduced to this week was a character that managed to intrigue me. His appearance and feral nature were in contrast with the intelligence he possessed, which made him feel that much more dangerous than the unthinking beast he appeared to be earlier. The revelation of his vendetta against Van Kleiss, the prime antagonist of the series, left room for a future storyline that I will love to see more of and that I doubt the show’s writers will be neglecting. Action, which is usually a strong point of the series, was an element that seemed to be fairly downplayed this episode. This left me disappointed, as it wasn’t there to counteract the antics of the Men Of Action. I really can’t say that there was much going for this episode, but it still felt mediocre at worst. When it’s all said and done, this wasn’t an episode that I despise but it’s not one that I see myself revisiting. I do hope that other fans were able to take more out of it than I was.